BRACING MYSELF FOR WINTER

I am busy winding down my garden so that I have nothing to do but feed the birds when winter hits us.  Unfortunately for the local wood-pigeons, someone in the neighbourhood has complained about them and an official letter has been sent to all spelling out the diseases and pests which the poor old pigeon might bring upon us.  It seems that pigeons themselves are considered pests, the poor things.  This means that those who have been feeding them have now stopped.  It saddens me to think that they now have to find somewhere else to feed when winter is coming, and I wish that the person who complained, whoever they are, could have complained early summer instead of just when winter is arriving.  But, the problem is that pigeons do tend to increase in number the more you feed them.  What started off as a few pigeons a couple of years ago has risen to over thirty.  You only have to look at Trafalgar Square in London to see what can happen.   My elderly neighbour, bless his kind heart, is guilty of being kind to them, and to the other birds and squirrels which hungrily dive on his garden at 10 a.m. every day.  At least, at the moment, the ground is still relatively warm and moist and all the birds seem to be gorging themselves on bugs and other creepy things which is ok by me.  Myself, I haven't been feeding the pigeons and I just have a small-bird feeder under which I have now attached a tray to catch the chaff and spilled seed.  Two delightful collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) greedily descend upon the tray every day and they eat a lot of seed!  But I don't mind, there's plenty for all and collared doves tend to come in pairs rather than flocks.

Small-bird seed feeder without tray

We had a break in the rain today and so I took the opportunity to take down the canopy from the garden swing.  I sprayed the ends of the metal rods that join up to form the canopy frame with WD40 and washed the canopy cover ready for packing away.  I've aired off the hammock/swing cushions and now have vacuum-packed them in plastic storage bags and put them in the shed.  As fast as I do a job, I can think of something else. 



I hate the fact that winter is coming and I start a countdown to spring although it has been arriving later and later in recent years.  I still have to plant my bulbs but I have no fresh compost.  I cannot muster up the energy to go to the garden centre and buy the bags which I would then have to haul from the car around to the back garden.  I better hurry up and make some decision or other as the bulbs are starting to shoot and root.  Perhaps I will just stick them in the ground and have done with it!



I read today in an article by the Royal Horticultural Society on rhubarb that this is the time of year to be dividing it.  Seems that it needs doing every two year.